A new report entitled “Exploring the Digital Nation: Computer and Internet Use at Home” was just released by the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Its contents may surprise a lot of people. Broadband Internet use is not a ubiquitous as many think. This report “finds that disparities continue to exist in broadband Internet adoption among demographic and geographic groups. The report also delves into the reasons why households have not adopted broadband Internet, an important input into the design of policies to achieve a more digitally connected nation.”

The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) representing a number of national library associations has written a letter [PDF] to the ranking members of the House Judiciary Committee to voice “serious concerns” about two provisions in H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) [PDF. “One provision would expand the definition of “willful” copyright infringement to potentially include cases where a person believed in good faith that infringing conduct was lawful” … while “another provision of Section 201 would allow felony penalties for some unauthorized public performances of copyrighted works, including, potentially, non-commercial ones; currently, such infringements carry only misdemeanor penalties.

The Library Copyright Alliance members include the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and the Association of College & Research Libraries.

“Thirty-three research institutions, associations, and foundations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have made a commitment to Open Access to research by signing the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. These top private, public, and non-profit organizations join nearly 300 more from around the world in another clear sign of the growing demand for change in the way scientific and scholarly research results are communicated and maximized.”

The Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) announces “the launch of its new website. The website includes fresh content, added Web2.0 functionality, and an updated look and feel.” The site is located at http://www.coar-repositories.org and includes published documents by COAR working groups, open discussion lists, links to COAR’s Facebook page and Twitter presence, and relevant RSS feeds.

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